How bad are fungus gnats?

[Cookiezealous]

I recently used a tea for my plants, Im in living soil and shortly after fungus gnat’s galore. Going to use some gnatrol to get them under control but and just wondering how much will they affect my grow? I’ve heard people say just ignore them and others say they are the devil. Anyone with experience using gnatrol in living soil and anyone with experience “living with gnats”?

 

[Orblight]

I've had them before in coco they didn't seem to do much harm. But I had good luck with hanging a couple yellow sticky traps from the bottom branches on each pot so the trap basicly touched the coco

 

[Hollatchaboy]

I recently used a tea for my plants, Im in living soil and shortly after fungus gnat’s galore. Going to use some gnatrol to get them under control but and just wondering how much will they affect my grow? I’ve heard people say just ignore them and others say they are the devil. Anyone with experience using gnatrol in living soil and anyone with experience “living with gnats”?

Theres better ways to get rid of them. First off, you may be watering too much. Second, get predator insects. Fungus Gnats aren't bad if you keep them in control. You don't want a hundred, but a few fliers aren't going to hurt anything. Everything in moderation.

 

[FirstCavApache64]

I use Gnatrol when they flare up in numbers and the yellow sticky traps too.The beneficial nematodes route is the a great way to go and I was hoping my store bought earth worm castings would have plenty but they don't seem to. I'm going to try and get some better castings next time. Unless you're seeing a lot of larvae for a prolonged period I wouldn't worry about injury to the plant. Just get them under control as soon as possible and you'll be good.

 

[Horselover fat]

If you can keep the population in check the damage will not be huge. The larvae destroy roots while adults do nothing to the plants, but boy do they breed. The life cycle is about a month. So if you sticky trap all adults flying you will not see any for a while until the next batch is ready to be airborne.

 

[Grow Monster]

I did 3 things that cleared em out of my tents.
1st was make a solution of soap water sugar and apple cider vinegar. I sat that in the tent in a cup.
2nd I drenched soil with h202 (hydrogen peroxide) 1 to 4 ratio with water. To kill larvae in soil.
3rd I placed yellow sticky traps on or close to soil.
They disappeared fast. Address the issue before it gets out of hand and it will be alot easier to deal with.
But also I mix diatomaceous earth(de) in my soil as a deterrent. It's leaves the stuff on the outside of my fabric pots. Plus fan under canopy blowing rt above soil. They don't like it in there.

 

[Grow Monster]

But to answer your question No they are not that bad compared to alot of other things that can go wrong in a grow.
Spider mites, aphids, bud rot, sick girl just to name a few. I'd take gnats over any of those others mentioned.

 

[LowRange]

I had them bad from a junk soil mix from a big box store. Tried everything from neem oil, yellow traps, peroxide to gnat granules on the soil, only thing that worked was mosquito bits.

 

[420 Garden]

Use your gnatrol, (I do). But put 1/2 inch play sand on your soil after you gnatrol. Let your pot be for 3 to 4 days. Then use gnatrol 1 tsp to a gallon for next 2 feed/water and you should be good. Check with new yellow traps. Happy growing!

 

[Nope_49595933949]

I mix mosquito bits in with the soil and "top dress" them. It takes care of them quickly. Toss up some yellow sticky traps as well if you want.

 

[Grojak]

I tend to get them annually in my veg where airflow and over watering probably play a part in harvesting them. When I first had them years ago I tried mosquito dunks but really didn’t seem to solve the problem as well as a couple yellow sticky traps did. Now I just leave 1 yellow sticky traps in veg permanently and pay attention to not over watering

 

[inth3shadowz]

Not the worst pest by far...but definitely causes damage if left untreated properly. I recently switched to regular dtw coco from hempy buckets due to always fighting those bastards. What I've found really attracts them mostly is sitting water and things like hempy buckets where theres water just sitting at the bottom of the container. Another theory I have is that over fertilizing which is very common, makes the plant suspectable to attracting bugs to it's roots.

 

[xtsho]

If you're doing a living soil you might want to think about using a little neem meal added on top. It's an organic pesticide and fertilizer all in one. It does have an NPK of around 6-1-2 so you need think about that before dumping a bunch on. But a small amount is fine to use and helps with the control of fungus gnats.

 

[420 Garden]

You will break the cycle with sand. Kills off larvae, adults can not get to soil to lay additional eggs. Gnatrol first then sand. Just saying...

 

[420 Garden]

Microb lift works as well and lots cheaper. But if you don't break the cycle, they just keep going. Some on here use pantyhose to keep them ot of soil. Never tried that but, gotta keep them from your roots.

 

[Noise_Guise]

My gnat problem actually started with a couple of house plants I bought that already were infested and I just didn’t notice (I’m way more aware nowadays). After tossing them out though, the problem moved into my grow room. I lived with those little fuckers for a good month before I had enough of it. Maybe it wasn’t just fungus gnats but I swear I’d spend all night itching. What I did (on top of the yellow sticky strips of course)…
1. Transplanted to fabric air pots.
2. Top dress with Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth
(Feed through a funnel)
Literally, 2 weeks later=what’s a gnat?
3. No houseplants ever!!!

 

[420 Garden]

Only thing I don't like about DE is the mess. Sand will wash right in the soil after a few water/feed. And sand also helps with drainage. Just my $.02

 

[Noise_Guise]

I will definitely use the gnatrol and sand method if I ever have a gnat problem again.

 

[Budzbuddha]

My gnat problem actually started with a couple of house plants I bought that already were infested and I just didn’t notice (I’m way more aware nowadays). After tossing them out though, the problem moved into my grow room. I lived with those little fuckers for a good month before I had enough of it. Maybe it wasn’t just fungus gnats but I swear I’d spend all night itching. What I did (on top of the yellow sticky strips of course)…
1. Transplanted to fabric air pots.
2. Top dress with Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth
(Feed through a funnel)
Literally, 2 weeks later=what’s a gnat?
3. No houseplants ever!!!
View attachment 5205571

You literally flushed that plant with DE … guarantee you did not use according label. Sadly , a simple top dress of Neem meal or citric acid spray / sticky boards would control instead of that slurry mess.

 

[DoubleAtotheRON]

Microblift from Amazon is amazingly cheap and effective. 1 bottle will last the home grower forever, a small commercial grower, a couple of grow cycles. Like $24 or so. That, and large sticky traps... gotta break that life cycle... they're like fleas.